If you don't have a local ferret shelter or your local ferret shelter doesn't have ferrets up for adoption and other area shelters are too far away, please consider checking other options such as local dog/cat shelters, newspaper ads, craigslist, etc. I'll go out on a limb and guess that if someone posts to the FML looking for ferrets to add to their family and the general area they are located, they might hear from shelters in that area that have adoptable ferrets. I didn't understand the anger expressed in the post from this weekend. I may have interpreted the post in a different manner than was intended as that is easy to do with posts. If a shelter doesn't get back to someone that can offer a loving responsible forever home to one of their ferrets, then it is that shelter's loss. I do understand the frustration of not getting a response. I do not know either party, and there may be other factors that contributed that we aren't aware of in this particular situation. Many ferret shelters are home shelters. The shelter operators may have immediate family issues as well. Most are regular people with families to take care of, may have a regular outside of the home job to work, regular day to day activities, and also operate a home based ferret shelter so their time can be stretched beyond limits and some things may get put on the back burner. They might be dealing with a critical or terminally ill ferret or sick family member. I know with Jester this last week, even the normal tasks seemed enormous, and my energy was drained. During this time I had several calls come in, which I did return, with effort and perhaps not as timely, because Jester was my priority. A shelter caretaker may give reasons/excuses when not wanting to adopt out ferrets, but that doesn't necessarily make them a hoarder. On not adopting out adrenal/diseased ferrets, if the shelter can provide all the necessary and loving care (as in a home environment), that is one less worry for that shelter caretaker. Many people turn ferrets into shelters when the ferrets are sick or old or too much trouble. After dealing with this type of behavior and seeing how devastating it is to the ferrets, it can make trusting people to do the right thing difficult. Some people can be deceiving just to get what they want regardless of how it affects anyone else. If a shelter has 10 ferrets and doesn't want to adopt the little ones out, that doesn't necessarily make them a hoarder. Someone who runs a shelter may have ferrets too. Ten ferrets when well taken care of and all their needs are met doesn't make one a hoarder, if they are running a shelter or not. Some shelters have many more ferrets and don't deserve to be labeled hoarder. If there is a true issue of hoarding and the animals are at risk, please contact other ferret shelters for help. As a community we can do wonderful things to help ferrets. tle www.ferretfamilyservices.org [Posted in FML 7757]